Top Ten Books For A Great Start To School!

If your child has just started, or is about to start school, they will have a busy year of learning and fun ahead! So we’ve asked our good friends at Ladybird Books to put together a fantastic selection of tools to build your child’s reading confidence and support their learning through Reception to Year One. There are books to help with phonics learning, favourite story books, books crammed full of fascinating facts and books to help with counting and handwriting!

We’re also giving away a whole bundle of books and fabulous Trunki PaddlePak rucksack so you can send your little ones back to school in style this year! ENTER NOW by heading over to our Facebook page and liking & sharing the post to enter! ;-)

A note on phonics: If your child has just started in Reception, their school will probably use a synthetic phonics programme to teach the sounds and combinations letters and sounds children need to be able to read and write with confidence. The Ladybird I’m Ready for Phonics series closely follows the order that a child is taught phonics in school and is a great way to support your child through Reception and as they prepare for the Phonics Screening Check which takes place towards the end of Year One.

If you are new to phonics, it can feel a little daunting, but you’ll find more information, plus a really useful sound chart, over on the Ladybird Website.

Ladybird’s Top Ten…

1&2. Ladybird I’m Ready for Phonics Readers
Level 1 – Captain Comet’s Space Party, and Level 2 – Nat Naps! – Both of these fun and colourful books are great to use for reading practise at home as they have been carefully written to give gradual, structured practise of the synthetic phonics your child is learning at school.

3. Ladybird I’m Ready for Phonics Flashcards
This set of colourful flash cards is a fun way to support your child’s phonics learning. There is also a really helpful parent note and phonics glossary of all the key terms.

4. Ladybird I’m Ready for Phonics Workbook 1
A fun activity workbook packed with stickers to ensure your child has lots of fun as they practise their letters, sounds and early reading skills.

5. First Fabulous Facts – Planet Earth
This colourful book is packed with fascinating facts to help children understand the world around them and contains entertaining activity pages and a visual glossary to keep learning fun. Look out for other titles in the series including Minibeasts, Dinosaurs and My Body!

6. Start School with Topsy and Tim: First Numbers
This is an easy-to-use activity book for children who are starting to learn how to count. Your child can practise writing numbers using the bright, colourful activities and Topsy and Tim will be there to help them on their way! The pages are wipe-clean so it’s easy to practise again and again!

7&8. Read it yourself
Reading with your child at home is a great way to support and encourage his or her reading development. The Read it Yourself with Ladybird series is a simple levelled reading series that will help you find books that match your child’s reading skill and encourage further independent reading…

Goldilocks and the Three Bears Read it yourself with Ladybird – Level 1: Based on the classic fairy tale, this is suitable for early readers who are ready to take their first steps in reading real stories. The story is told very simply, using a small number of frequently repeated words.

Pirate School Read it yourself – Level 2: It’s Jack’s first day at pirate school, but he and the other the new pirates are going to have to put their new skills to the test sooner than they thought! This Level 2 Read it yourself books is ideal for children who can read short, simple sentences with help.

9.Ladybird Homework Helpers – Handwriting Wipe Clean Book
This handwriting activity book can help your child improve their handwriting skills by drawing common letter shapes and practising writing first letters and words on the colourful pages. The book comes with a free pen and the pages are wipe-clean and reusable to use again and again! There is also a comprehensive parent note to help you both get the most out of the book, plus advice on how to help left-handers write certain letters correctly.

10.Ladybird Homework Helpers – Times Tables Sticker books with CD
A bright interactive sticker book to help your child learn, remember and practise their times tables. The attached CD contains twelve bouncy songs to sing along to, with the times tables from 2-12 and a times tables medley!

The prize includes a Trunki and PaddlePak in the colours of the winners choice, plus 10 top selling Ladybird books. Winner will be chosen at random from the comments on the Facebook posts. UK entries only. Competition closes at midnight on 16/09/15.